Machine and process for finishing mercerized cotton



"Dec. 27, 1938. w. P. BOYD 2,142,043

MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR FINISHING MERCERIZED COTTON Filed Oct. 10, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 40 H as 27 30v 43 L 4 a3 a H-IZ l a- 3 6 A 24 H 57 r I a0 CIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILB I K 4 A l?- a MM Dec. 27, 1938. w. P. BOYD 2,142,043

MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR FINISHING MERCERIZED COT TON Filed Oct. 10, 1954 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William P. Boyd, Nashua, N. H.; Roland B. Burnham administrator of said William P. Boyd,

deceased Application October 10, 1934, Serial No. 747,737

3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain parts of the process of finishing mercerized textiles, especially mercerized cotton cloth.

In mercerizing cotton cloth, a web of the ma- 5 terial is passed through a hot caustic solution at It is then washedin any suitable way to get rid I 15 of the caustic.

The idea is that the tendency of the cloth when cooling is to shrink, but that when cool it will shrink no more.

In treating yarn, the yarn is kept stretched 20 lengthwise but cloth must be stretched crosswise.

There are other processes by which the cloth is first subjected to the hot caustic and then cooled as by the use of cool or cold water which dilutes the caustic and of then expanding or stretching it crosswise or transversely. There is another process whereby the cloth in a caustic bath is subjected to a temperature below the freezing point of water, but as this freezes the water, the result is not uniform.

By my process and my machine the cloth is subjected to the usual hot caustic bath preferably by passing it through such a bath over and under a series of rollers and then through squeeze rl1ers and from this it is passed through a stretching or expanding machine while it is still hot and while, still hot and expanded passes immediately to a very large, wide cooling wheel where it is cooled without contact with water until it is cooled and from this cooling means it is passed while still smooth or expanded into and through washing tanks of any suitable type, preferably those provided with rollers, where the surplus caustic is washed out, the cloth being at all times kept smooth and being prevented from. shrinking until it is delivered from the washing tanks.

The most convenient and cheapest way of cooling and keeping cool the rim of this wheel is by making the rim of the wheel with a shallow an- :10 nular water passage enclosed on the outside by a cover which is preferably of metal or some other good conductor of heat and causing cool water to travel constantly through this passage and entirely around the rim and discharging it at a point near where it entered.

The volume of this water can be easily regulated and the passage should be of such size and the flow of such an amount that there will be. a great I deal more volume of water than cloth at every point around the rim so that the temperature of the entering cloth will be quickly reduced from between one hundred fifty degrees and one hundred eighty degrees to perhaps fifty or sixty degrees while the temperature of the water will be increased only one degree or two degrees. No 10 water comes in contact with the cloth.

The caustic bath may be 50 to'80 F. and,the wet cloth may be cooled down to perhaps 10 to 20 on the cooling wheel.

I find that excellent results are obtained by having the surface speed of the wheel the same as the delivery speed of the delivery rollers from the caustic bath and the same as the speed of the receiving rollers for the washing bath, but these can be varied at will according to the kind and quality of the material, the strength of the caustic and any other particular conditions.

My process is substantially continuous and a preferred series of processes will be singeing, quenching, passing through the hot caustic, then stretching and retaining the stretch while it is being cooled withoutpwetting in passing around my large cooling wheel" and then washing by passing it while still smooth, but without any additional stretching, through a washing bath in which the caustic is washed out and then delivering wet or dry.

I have found that if the cloth, saturated with the hot caustic, is cooled too suddenly, its tendency to shrink is not destroyed and that there is a predetermined time necessary for a permanent set. My purpose is to keep the cloth stretched and fiat while hot and to cool it while it is still so stretched flat for a period at least as long as the predetermined time required for a permanent set. The time required for such a setting is about twenty-seven seconds.

The feature of my invention is the use of a cooling wheel of such size that as the cloth clings to its rim and travels around therewith, it is being steadily cooled at a rate which permits commercial production but not faster than the predetermined time necessary for a permanent set. The tendency of the cloth to shrink is thus destroyed while it is still smooth and stretched crosswise. If, as in some processes, the cloth from the hot caustic bath is cooled, itshrink's and must be forcibly stretched after it is cool, but with my process and machine, the stretching or spreading is done while it is still hot and the material is delivered to a relatively lon flat curved surface, the rim of the wheel, and as it is still wet, it clings thereto and does not shrink until it is cooled. While cooling on this wheel there is no let up on the tension as there would be if it passed from one set of small rollers to another set or if it was being cooled on a tentering machine with pincers spaced apart.

I find that a wheel thirty feetin diameter, traveling at a surface speed of about one hundred and iflfty feet per minute, with means to cool the cloth so adjusted that it reduces the temperature from around 180 degrees to between 50 and 60 degrees in between 25 and 30 seconds, produces very satisfactory results, and the cloth so cooled has no tendency thereafter to shrink when wet.- The main idea of this machine and process is that the cloth moves steadily from beginning to end starting through the caustic bath, whatever its temperature may be, around smooth bars, or smooth rollers until it is impregnated with a wet caustic solution and then passes through smooth squeeze rolls which leave it wet or damp but with no excess liquid. From thence it passesbetween or under smooth faced laterally expanding rollers and from there directly to a relatively large cooling wheel having, a substantially fiat outside rim which is cooled or chilled from the inside, without wetting from the outside, the temperature being reduced at least 30 or 40. The cloth is kept smooth and relatively dry, or at least is drier when it leaves this large wheel than when it started on it. From the large wheel, the cooled and relatively dry cloth passes still over smooth rollers and over and under such rollers in a washing tank while the caustic is being washed out or neutralized.

The main feature of the machine and the main idea of the process is that from beginning to end, the. cloth is always kept smooth and stretched, there being no opportunity to shrink laterally at any time.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation partly in section of one arrangement of the various parts of the machine for performing the process.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of Fig. 1 with the washing tank F and roller l removed and. with other parts shown in section and broken to show the construction.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section of part of the wheel. I

Fig. 4 is a detail showing the preferred construction of the surface of the wheel.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing an alternative wheel surface.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary broken plan view of the inside of the wheel rim.

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical cross section of an alternative shape of the wheel surface.

In the drawings A represents a caustic tank of any well known type including a drag or brake bar I to receive the cloth H, others bars 2 and 3 over tank A and submerged rolls 4, l and other rolls 5, 5 around which the cloth passes and thence through the squeeze rolls 6, I where the surplus water or moisture is squeezed out. From these squeeze rolls 6, I the cloth passes between the rolls of an expander B of any well known type. T is a truck for carrying cloth.-

As shown, rollers II, II have smooth surfaces and are of a well known curved type which gently, but firmly, smooth out, spread and stretch the cloth until it is delivered by the expander-delivery rolls l2, I2 to the coolingmeans which is a wheel C. This wheel is carried by bearings 20 on a floor K and its axle 2| has a water inlet 22 at one side and a water outlet 23 at the other side. It is shown as having spokes 24 and a rim 25 in which is a wide shallow annular channel 28 around' the outside of which is a metal rim 21 and across which is a dam 28 between the inlet I pipe 29 and the outlet pipe 30 which extend from and to the axial inlets and outlets 22 and 23.

Preferably also, I use a series of oppositely disposed baflle plates 32 and 33 the idea being to cause the cool water,'which comes from axial inlet 22 and pipe 29, to travel in a zig zag passage all the way around the rim to the outlet.

As -shown the washing means F are located over the caustic tanks A as on another floor L of the mill and through these the cloth H passes after it leaves wheel C passing under a tension roller 40 and from thence over and under other rollers such as 4| and 42 in the washing means or tank F.

A preferred arrangement is to have a water inlet 43 for fresh waterat the end of tank F farthest from wheel C and an outlet 44 nearest that wheel so that the fresh, clean washing water will come in at the cloth discharge end of the tank F and the stronger solution of caustic will be delivered from the entering end at 44.

As shown in Fig. 4, the face of the rim of the wheel C can be knurled or roughened or, as shown in Fig. 5, it may be smooth, or as shown in Fig. 7, it may be slightly convex as looked at in transverse cross section.

The cooling wheel C should be positively driven and may simply draw the cloth through the brake rods I, 2, 3, rollers l, 5, squeeze rolls 6, I and exl pander B, or the squeeze rolls 6, I might be positively driven at a somewhat slower speed, in which case there would be some stretching of the cloth.

It is obvious that instead of running cold water through the pipes 29 and 30 and channel 26 in a wheel such as C, cold brine, cold air or any other cold medium might be circulated.

If the cloth is thin and if thespeed is reduced, the length of the surface over which it passes inbeing cooled may be reduced. In my machine and in my process there are no pincers, such as used in a tentering frame, and there is no card clothing nor anything except smooth surfaces over which the cloth travels. The machine can be used with a hot caustic or with a caustic bath which is at the room temperature.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for mercerizing cotton cloth comprising a caustic bath including rollers around which the material passes and squeeze rollers; expanding means for stretching the cloth crosswise when delivered from the caustic bath and including delivery rolls; a single relatively large cooling wheel with a substantially'flat outside rim to which the cloth clings and with which it travels until it is cooled, there being inside the rim, a closed channel and conductors to provide a constant flow of relatively cool water therethrough; and a washing bath including rollers around which the cloth from the cooling wheel passes.

2. An apparatus for mercerlzing cotton ioth comprising a caustic bath including smooth aced rollers around which the material passes and smooth faced squeeze rollers; smooth faced expanding means for stretching the cloth crosswise when deliveredfrom thecaustic bath; smooth faced delivery rolls a single relatively large coolton cloth which consist of passing it through a caustic bath, then squeezing out the excess moisture, then spreading and smoothing it'while at substantially the same temperature, and delivering it to a single relatively large wheel with a flat rim which is cooled and while clinging to the rim, causing it to be cooled more than thirty degrees and delivering it while still flat to wash.

ing devices to remove or neutralize the caustic. 

